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The Garnett-Pettigrew Gray Line!
Newsletter of the Garnett-Pettigrew Chapter #67
Confederate Officers of North Carolina Society
Military Order of Stars & Bars
January - February 2012
Commander – Dwain Roberts
Lieutenant Commander – Ed Martin
Adjutant - Gary Faulk
COMMANDER’S
COMMENTS
OUR NEXT MEETING
FEBRUARY 4
I trust everyone had a very nice Christmas and is
having a good New Year.
YOUR RSVP NEEDED FOR DINNER
Once again I begin with my “thank you's”.
Thank you to all the ladies who put together our
very delicious meal at our December 3 meeting.
Thank you to Mr. Charles Hawks for part one of
your program on “The Confederate Navy”. I look
forward to hearing part two on February 4.
It was good to see Past Commander Mr. Jim
Rogers and Marty at our December 3 meeting.
You all have my most humble apology for not
having our candle light service in December.
We still need to elect officers! We need everyone
to attend our February meeting. We may have to
appoint officers in February.
My most sincere thank you to all who have
helped me as your commander. I look forward to
seeing all of you at our February meeting.
“To secure these rights [of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness], governments are instituted
among men, deriving their just powers from the
consent of the governed . . . .
“Whenever any form of government becomes
destructive of the these ends, it is the right of the
people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
government.”
- The Declaration of Independence, 1776
P. Dwain Roberts
Commander
Garnett-Pettigrew Chapter, MOSB
As with all our meetings, if you plan to eat at the
February 4 meeting you are requested to RSVP by
calling Commander Dwain Roberts at 336-626-0148
and leaving a message or by sending an e-mail to
[email protected].
The price of the meal remains $8.00 in 2012.
Outer Banks History Center Seeks
Memorabilia for Civil War Exhibit
in March
MANTEO - The Outer Banks History Center
(OBHC) is seeking letters, diaries, photographs and
artifacts of Civil War-era ancestors, especially those
on Roanoke Island in the early 1860s, for an exhibit
to open in March. It is part of the commemoration of
the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The OHBC
can make digital scans of original documents, papers
or photographs for inclusion in the exhibit.
The exhibit, "The Civil War Comes to Roanoke
Island: Fishers, Fighters and Freedmen" will tell the
story of a sparsely populated Roanoke Island, and
how it became the scene of an important engagement
early in the war. Confederates tried to fortify the
island, but the 3,000 southern troops were no match
for the 10,000 Union soldiers of the Burnside
Expedition that landed on Roanoke's shores in
February 1862. Union victory meant control of the
waterways in northeastern North Carolina, and paved
the way for additional Union control of the Tar Heel
State.
Also during this period, Roanoke Island became
home to thousands of blacks, both free and former
slaves, who flocked to the area for protection during
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the uncertain war times. Representatives of the
national Freedman's Bureau, assisted by northern
missionaries, worked at settling, educating and
employing the freedmen.
"We want to go beyond the soldiers' and sailors'
perspective and include stories from the viewpoint of
the people who lived here on Roanoke Island," said
curator KaeLi Schurr. "Although there are ample
records about the battle and subsequent four-year
occupation, accounts from local residents are scarce.
The exhibit will debut First Friday, March 2, and
will remain on display through Dec. 30. All are
invited to the free opening reception being hosted by
the Friends of the Outer Banks History Center.
For more information about the Outer Banks
History Center, call (252) 473-2655, send an e-mail
to [email protected] or visit the History Center’s
website at www.obhistorycenter.ncdcr.gov.
Biography
(In each issue we offer a profile of a member of the
Confederate officer corps. In this issue we feature
Brigadier General Robert Brank Vance.)
Robert
Brank Vance
was born on
Reems Creek
in Buncombe
County, North
Carolina on
April
24th,
1828. Vance
was the eldest
son of Captain
David Vance
and
Mira
Margaret
Baird, and the
nephew of Dr.
Robert Brank Vance the Congressman. Growing up
he had three brothers and four sisters and his younger
brother became Governor Zebulon Baird Vance.
Robert Vance had a healthy childhood and helped out
on the farm that his family owned. In 1844 Vance’s
father died.
Vance attended local county schools and had
access to his late uncle’s library. At the age of
twenty he became the clerk of the Buncombe County
Court of Pleas, a post that his father had formerly
held. He held the office from 1848 to 1858 when he
became a merchant in Asheville. In 1851 Vance
married Harriet V. McElroy on May 13th and they
went on to have six children. Only four children
survived to adulthood, three boys and one girl.
Vance reportedly held Unionist sympathies and
was a supporter of John Bell, the presidential
candidate who was a member of the Constitutional
Union party. However, when the Civil War broke
out Vance volunteered for the Confederate Army. He
formed the Buncombe County Life Guard, which
later changed its name to Company H of the 29th NC
Infantry. After training at Camp Patton, Vance was
chosen by his unit to be colonel. The unit went to
guard the bridges in East Tennessee and in 1862
moved position to Cumberland Gap, where they
entered into a battle on March 24th. On the 30th of
December, 1862, Vance and his men were the first to
join the battle of Murfreesboro, where sixty of them
died and Vance barely missed being shot himself, his
horse being shot out from under him. He received
praise for his leadership at the battle and was
promoted to brigadier-general by Jefferson Davis.
Falling ill with typhoid fever, Vance was unable
to work in the field until the summer of 1863. After
he recovered he worked under General Braxton
Bragg, who put him in charge of the North CarolinaTennessee mountain region. This region had strong
Union sympathies and Vance was supposed to harass
the back of the Union Army and stop their flow of
supplies. In January 1864 he and his men were able
to capture a supply train heading for Knoxville, but
when they tried to move the supplies they were
captured at Crosby Creek. Vance and his men were
put in Union prison camps in Nashville, Louisville,
Fort Chase (Ohio), and Fort Delaware.
While imprisoned Vance was let out on parole
on the orders of President Lincoln and was given the
job of purchasing clothing for the Confederate
soldiers who were in prison camps. This situation
came about through the efforts of Rev. Nathaniel
Taylor, a Union sympathizer who had lived in
Tennessee. When Vance occupied his home area
Taylor had been afraid of capture. Vance, however,
had given him protection papers. Taylor later fled to
the North, but when he heard that Vance was
captured he contacted Lincoln and told his story.
Lincoln was sympathetic and ordered the parole. On
March 14th, 1865, Vance was given pardon and
allowed to return home on the condition that he
would never fight again.
Vance returned home and lived peacefully,
continuing his mercantile business, and in 1872 he
ran for a Congressional seat. He won the position
and went on to hold six terms in office. While there
he made it possible for mail to be delivered every day
in every county that he was in charge of, and he made
January - February 2012, Page 2 of 3
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it possible for the French Broad River to be dragged
from Brevard to Asheville so that trade could move
more easily along it. He was a member of the
Committee on Revolutionary Pensions for Veterans
of the War of 1812, the Committee on Coinage, and
the Committee on Patents. In the December of 1875
he was appointed Chairman of the Committee on
Patents and remained chairman for four terms.
Vance did not try to get re-elected in 1884 but
instead was appointed by President Grover Cleveland
to be the assistant commissioner of patents. Vance’s
wife, Harriet, died on March 20th, 1885. After
several years he married again to Lizzie R. Cook on
December 15th, 1892. Vance retired from politics in
1896. During his life he was an accomplished poet
and published several collections of his works. He
had been a member of the Knights Templar and
served two terms as the grand master of the North
Carolina Masons (1868-69). He also founded the
Asheville chapter of the Sons of Temperance. Vance
died on November 28th, 1899 at his farm in
Alexander, and he was buried in Asheville at
Riverside Cemetery.
Source: Western NC Heritage - The Civil War in
Western NC
http://wncheritage.org/
WNC_biography/vance_robt_brank.htm
 The Book Corner
Second Manassas:
Longstreet's Attack
and the Struggle for
Chinn Ridge
By Scott C. Patchan
Introduction by John
Hennessey
between Robert E. Lee and Gen. John Pope’s Army
of Virginia. Virginia’s rolling terrain and Bull Run
also provided Lee with a unique opportunity seldom
seen during the entire Civil War -- that of “bagging”
an army, an elusive feat keenly desired by political
leaders of both sides.
Second Manassas: Longstreet’s Attack and the
Struggle for Chinn Ridge details the story of
Longstreet and his men’s efforts to obtain the
ultimate victory that Lee desperately sought. At the
same time, this account tells of the Union soldiers
who, despite poor leadership and the lack of support
from Pope and his senior officers, bravely battled
Longstreet and saved their army from destruction
along the banks of Bull Run.
Longstreet’s men were able to push the Union
forces back, but only after they had purchased
enough time for the Union army to retreat in good
order. Although Lee did not achieve a decisive
victory, his success at Chinn Ridge allowed him to
carry the war north of the Potomac River, thus setting
the stage for his Maryland Campaign. Within three
weeks, the armies would meet again along the banks
of Antietam Creek in western Maryland. Uncovering
new sources, Scott Patchan gives a detailed
knowledge of the battle ground and a fresh
perspective that sharpens the detail and removes the
guesswork found in previous works dealing with the
climactic clash at Second Manassas.
Scott C. Patchan, a veteran Civil War battlefield
guide and historian, is the author of Shenandoah
Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign (Bison Books,
2009) and The Forgotten Fury: The Battle of
Piedmont, Virginia (Sergeant Kirkland’s Press,
1996). He also served as a research consultant and
contributing writer for Time Life's Voice's of the
CIvil War: Shenandoah, 1864 (1998). He resides in
Northern Virginia with his family, has twice served
as president of the Bull Run Civil War Round Table,
and is a much sought after tour guide for both
Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields and historic
sites.
- From the publisher
ISBN-13: 9781597976879
Publisher: Potomac Books Inc.
Publication date: 7/31/2011
Pages: 214
In 1862, looking for an opportunity to attack
Union general John Pope, Confederate general
Robert E. Lee ordered Gen. James Longstreet to
conduct a reconnaissance and possible assault on the
Chinn Ridge front. At the time Longstreet launched
his attack, only a handful of Union troops stood
Quotable Quotes
“Get correct views of life, and learn to see the world
in its true light. It will enable you to live pleasantly,
to do good, and, when summoned away, to leave
without regret. “
- Robert E. Lee
January - February 2012, Page 3 of 3
2012 Calendar
Let Us Remember . . .
All meetings are at 6:30 at the Monticello Community
Center unless otherwise noted
* Denotes change from regular meeting date
January 9, 1861 - Mississippi secedes
Saturday, February 4, 2012 - Garnett-Pettigrew MOSB
Meeting - Program: Part two on“The Confederate Navy” by
Charles Hawks
January 10, 1861 - Florida secedes
January 11, 1861 - Alabama secedes
January 15, 1865 - Fort Fisher falls
JANUARY 19, 1807
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE BORN
Saturday, April 7 - Garnett-Pettigrew MOSB Meeting Program TBA
Thursday, May 17 – Sunday, May 20 – Spring “Adopt-AMonument”Project – Gettysburg, PA
January 19, 1861 - Georgia secedes
JANUARY 21, 1824
GENERAL THOMAS “STONEWALL”
JACKSON BORN
Saturday, June 2 - Garnett-Pettigrew MOSB Meeting Program TBA
Saturday, August 4 - Garnett-Pettigrew MOSB Meeting Program TBA
January 26, 1861 - Louisiana secedes
February 1, 1861 - Texas secedes
Thursday, September 20 – Sunday, September 23 Fall
“Adopt-A-Monument” Project – Gettysburg, PA
February 18, 1861 - Jefferson Davis inaugurated as
provisional President of the Confederacy
Saturday, October 6 - Garnett-Pettigrew MOSB Meeting Program TBA
Saturday, December 1 - Garnett-Pettigrew MOSB
Meeting - Program TBA
February 20, 1864 - Battle of Olustee, Florida
February 22, 1865 - General Joseph Johnston
reinstated as commander of the Army of Tennessee
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3111 Southampton Drive
Jamestown, NC 27282